DREAM.3, which features the second round of the organization’s lightweight grand prix, takes place Sunday, May 11, at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. The event airs live in North America on HDNet at 3 a.m. ET.

The winner of the Diaz-Inoue fight advances to take on Hayato “Mach” Sakurai for the DREAM welterweight title this fall.

Diaz, who’s also scheduled to fight June 14 for EliteXC, will return to the action for the first time since a November 2007 loss to K.J. Noons for the first-ever EliteXC lightweight title. Diaz suffered multiple facial cuts and wasn’t allowed to continue past the first round, and he underwent surgery to repair scar tissue after the fight.

Diaz was then scheduled for a March 29 Strikeforce/EliteXC event but wasn’t cleared to fight by the California State Athletic Commission — possibly because of an issue with his medical marijuana card.

Inoue, a Pancrase veteran, is undefeated (3-0-2) in his past five fights and most recently faught Djamal Kurbanov (3-0-1) to a draw at a Pancrase event this past Monday.